New Fox Show `Reunion' Looks A Lot Like `the O.c.'

TV EYE

Fox must figure the best thing to accompany a new season of ``The O.C.'' (8 p.m.) is a kind of imitation, because ``Reunion'' (9 p.m.) is almost eerie with its copycats.

Will Estes, sprung from his role as the brother soldier on ``American Dreams'' not only looks like Benjamin McKenzie's blond, soft-spoken Ryan on ``The O.C.,'' but he also has pretty much the same storyline: poor boy among the rich.

At least he's good at what he does, helping propel an ensemble of young actors with varying weak links.

But Dave Annable plays his nerdy, neurotic character as if he was cast to be Adam Brody playing Seth Cohen in ``The O.C.,'' singing the praises of Wham instead of Death Cab for Cutie -- this is the 1980s, after all.

Sean Faris has the most conventional role, as the rich kid who can't let anything get in the way of his success.

But it is the women who give ``Reunion'' most of its life. Alexa Davalos plays a heavily conflicted young woman with a problem, and ChylerLeigh is the first of the cast to show her versatility by playing both a naive, optimistic high school grad and the sleek cynic questioned by police 20 years later.

That the police detective doing the questioning is Mathew St. Patrick, fresh from ``Six Feet Under'' adds some gravitas to the proceedings, otherwise colored with '80s fashions and a soundtrack courtesy of a-ha.

But the actor looks as frustrated and out of place as he was as Keith guarding pop star Celeste in ``Six Feet Under.''

It's tough to tell from a cheese-filled pilot -- though one with a nifty crash scene -- whether this will have enough traction to take us through the '90s, year by year, until the mystery is solved. But ``Reunion,'' at the very least, is the first new show of September.

That it compares fairly well with ``The O.C.'' may say more about how the older show, opening its third season, has lost its fizz. The cast looks as if they should be seniors in college instead of high school.

The main task of the first episode tonight is to clean up the mess from last spring's cliffhanger, when Marissa shot Ryan's brother Trey during another of the show's famous dust-ups.

But there's a lot to set up -- and Caleb's will to be read! -- before both shows pause a month for postseason baseball.

Also On Tonight

The first U.S. football stadium stop on the Rolling Stones current tour came last month in East Hartford. That makes the Stones officially ready to play prime-time TV tonight on the ``NFL Opening Kickoff 2005'' (ABC, 8 p.m.).

Unfortunately, their performance will consist of two songs taped last week at Comerica Park in Detroit.

Maroon 5, who opened the show at Rentschler Field, will play the show tonight from the parking lot of Los Angeles Coliseum, alongside Good Charlotte, Rihanna and Kanye West, who won't be required to wear a gag despite his comments on Friday's telethon criticizing the administration's handling of the hurricane aftermath.

The rest of the show will originate from Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass., where Green Day and Santana will play, Trisha Yearwood sill sing the national anthem and Freddie Prinze Jr. hosts.

Eventually, the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots take on the Oakland Raiders for some NFL Football (ABC, 9 p.m.).

Deep Rivered

The Deep River episode of the ABC reality/game show ``My Kind of Town'' was briefly scheduled for Sunday, before officials pulled the entire series Wednesday for the time being.

``With all of the storm coverage and the benefits/telethons, our show has lost its promotional base, so they want to pull it from this time period and hold it back with the other remaining two shows and launch it in a different time period,'' a spokeswoman said.

More than 200 residents of Deep River attended the taping of the show in New York Aug. 27.

Talking It Up

Donald Rumsfeld never showed up on David Letterman the other night; but tonight the show has Fairfield tennis star James Blake, alongside Jennifer Lopez and Adam Carolla.